System Requirements
Before you begin installing the eCommerce Builder, ensure your server meets these minimum specifications:
Server Resources:
- VPS or dedicated server (shared hosting is not supported)
- Minimum: 1 CPU core and 1GB RAM
- Recommended: 2 CPU cores and 2GB RAM
Operating System:
- Ubuntu 22.04 or higher (Ubuntu 24.04 LTS recommended)
- Other Linux distributions may work but are not officially supported
Required Software:
- Docker version 24 or higher
- Docker Compose version 2.20 or higher
- Both must be installed before proceeding
Additional Requirements:
- A registered domain name
- A Stripe account for payment processing
- HTTPS/SSL capability (Caddy handles this automatically)
Recommended VPS Providers: Popular choices include Hetzner, DigitalOcean, Linode, and Vultr. Choose a provider that offers good performance in your target market region.
Downloading and Extracting the Files
After purchasing the self-hosted version of eCommerce Builder, you will receive download access through your customer dashboard. You can download the files up to 5 times.
Step 1: Download the Package
Log into your account at djangify.com and navigate to your downloads area. Download the self-hosted package to your local computer. The file will be named something like ebuilder-selfhosted-v1.0.zip.
Step 2: Upload to Your Server
You can upload the files to your server using several methods:
Using SCP from your local machine, you can transfer the entire folder with a command like: scp -r ebuilder-selfhosted/ user@yourserver:/home/user/ebuilder
Alternatively, use an SFTP client such as FileZilla, WinSCP, or Cyberduck. Connect to your server and upload the extracted folder to a location like /home/user/ebuilder.
Step 3: Extract and Verify
Once uploaded, connect to your server via SSH and navigate to the directory where you uploaded the files.
If you uploaded a zip file directly to the server, extract it using: unzip ebuilder-selfhosted-v1.0.zip
Then navigate into the extracted directory: cd ebuilder-selfhosted
Verify the contents are present by listing the files. You should see important files including docker-compose.yml, Dockerfile, requirements.txt, manage.py, and a .env.example file, along with several directories for your Django apps.
Step 4: Create Data Directories
The application needs persistent storage for your database, uploaded media files, and log files. Create these directories now:
mkdir -p data/db data/media data/logs
These directories will be mounted as Docker volumes and will persist even when you rebuild or update your container.
Environment Setup
The eCommerce Builder is configured through environment variables stored in a .env file. This file contains sensitive information and should never be committed to version control or shared publicly.
Step 1: Create Your .env File
Copy the example environment file: cp .env.example .env
Then open the file for editing: nano .env
Step 2: Generate Your Secret Key
Django requires a unique secret key for security functions like session management and cryptographic signing. Generate one using Python:
python3 -c "import secrets; print(secrets.token_urlsafe(50))"
This will output a long random string. Copy this entire string and paste it as your SECRET_KEY value in the .env file.
Alternatively, you can use OpenSSL: openssl rand -base64 50
Or use any password generator to create a string of at least 50 characters using letters, numbers, and symbols.
Step 3: Configure Essential Variables
Your .env file needs several required variables to function. Here is a complete example showing all the essential configuration:
Django Core Settings:
SECRET_KEY should be set to the long random string you just generated.
DEBUG should be set to False for production. Never set this to True on a live site as it exposes sensitive debugging information.
ALLOWED_HOSTS must include your domain names, separated by commas with no spaces. For example: yourdomain.com,www.yourdomain.com
CSRF_TRUSTED_ORIGINS must include your full domain URLs with https:// prefix. For example: https://yourdomain.com,https://www.yourdomain.com
Stripe Payment Settings:
STRIPE_PUBLIC_KEY is your publishable key from Stripe, starting with pk_live_ for production or pk_test_ for testing.
STRIPE_SECRET_KEY is your secret key from Stripe, starting with sk_live_ for production or sk_test_ for testing.
STRIPE_WEBHOOK_SECRET is your webhook signing secret from Stripe, starting with whsec_. This is critical for secure payment verification.
Email Configuration:
EMAIL_HOST is your SMTP server address, such as smtp.gmail.com for Gmail.
EMAIL_PORT is usually 587 for TLS or 465 for SSL.
EMAIL_HOST_USER is your full email address.
EMAIL_HOST_PASSWORD is your email password. For Gmail, you must use an App Password, not your regular Gmail password.
EMAIL_USE_TLS should be set to True if using port 587.
DEFAULT_FROM_EMAIL is the email address that will appear as the sender on customer emails, such as noreply@yourdomain.com.
Database Configuration:
By default, the application uses SQLite and no database configuration is needed. The database file will be created automatically at /app/db/db.sqlite3 inside the container.
If you want to use PostgreSQL instead for high-traffic sites, you can set DATABASE_URL to a PostgreSQL connection string like: postgresql://user:password@localhost:5432/ebuilder
Step 4: Review Complete Example
Here is what your complete .env file should look like with all values filled in:
Begin with Django settings. Set SECRET_KEY to your generated 50-character string. Set DEBUG to False. Set ALLOWED_HOSTS to your domain and www subdomain. Set CSRF_TRUSTED_ORIGINS to your full domain URLs with https prefix.
Then configure Stripe. Set STRIPE_PUBLIC_KEY to your publishable key from Stripe. Set STRIPE_SECRET_KEY to your secret key from Stripe. Set STRIPE_WEBHOOK_SECRET to your webhook signing secret.
Finally configure email. Set EMAIL_HOST to your SMTP server. Set EMAIL_PORT to 587. Set EMAIL_HOST_USER to your email address. Set EMAIL_HOST_PASSWORD to your email password or app password. Set EMAIL_USE_TLS to True. Set DEFAULT_FROM_EMAIL to your sender address.
Step 5: Secure Your .env File
After creating your .env file, ensure it has proper permissions so only you can read it:
chmod 600 .env
Never commit this file to git or share it publicly. It contains sensitive credentials that could compromise your store's security.
Step 6: Test Mode vs Live Mode
Before launching to customers, you should test your store using Stripe test mode credentials. Test mode keys are completely separate from live mode keys.
For testing, use keys starting with pk_test_ and sk_test_ from your Stripe dashboard in test mode.
For production, use keys starting with pk_live_ and sk_live_ from your Stripe dashboard in live mode.
Never mix test and live credentials. They must all match the same mode or payments will fail.
Next Steps
With your .env file configured, you are ready to proceed to the Server Configuration Guide to build and start your application, set up your reverse proxy, and configure your domain.
Remember that you will need to create Stripe webhooks separately for test mode and live mode, and you must restart your application container after making any changes to your .env file for those changes to take effect.